Starting a New Garden

[LIsa]

I would like advice on starting a large garden from total scratch. I currently have a fig tree and a very (extremely) small strawberry patch, and I grow tomatoes and herbs in containers. This year, I would like to plant a fairly large garden (and in the spirit of Eat the View, it will have to be on my front lawn, where most of my empty property space lies). When is a good time to start ripping up the lawn and prepping the ground? I live on Long Island, in NY. The weather stays generally cool here until April. When is a good time to plant seeds? I'm interested in growing Romaine lettuce, plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, string beans, broccoli, zucchini (which I know from previous experience, needs a lot of room), some kind of other squash, and a few root vegetables (I will most likely still put the herbs in pots). Can they all be planted at once? Can anyone advise me on a good place to go to on the web to view garden design? Thank you so much for your help!

[Chris Bocchino]

Start out now by laying news paper down as thick as you can in the spot that you are going to make your garden. This will kill the grass that lies there and will prevent any from sprouting up in your garden. You can use rocks or what ever you have to hold down the edges. Once it is down then spray it with the hose to wet it down to put a bit of weight on it. Once everything is dead you can till it up or buy some compost to go over to of it. design will depend on what direction you garden faces but this will get you started...........Chris

[LIsa]

Chris, thank you so much for the information...my house faces east, so I guess that's the direction the garden will be facing? I didn't really think about it, I was more concerned with sun exposure, lol! It will have sun most of the day, but I think early in the morning will be the least sunny, due to the position of a tree on the street. When you till it up, do you take the dead grass away, or blend it in and use it for planting? I've been "makeshift" composting over the winter, and plan to add this to the soil as well.

[Chris Bocchino]

Well sun exposure is utimately what I was getting at as well. What you want to do when you desing a garden is just make sure that you position all the plants that will get large in the back of the garden so they don't shade out any other plants. As for the grass I would leave it in place and till it in. It will decompose just as you compost pile does, plus it will add a bit of organic matter to the soil which will help with drainage and crusting issued. When you go to till I would go over the area once then put down your compost and turn it in with the tiller. I like to double till, just make sure you don't till after a rain. You want you soil to be "dry" when you till so it crumbles into small pieces rather than clump together into big clumps.

When is a good time to plant seeds?
Your average last frost date is around April 13 but you might be able to get some or you cool season crop in before hand like romain and broccoli. You can actuall plant your romain near the tomatoes to shade them a bit since they don't like the heat of the summer and will tend to bolt if in direct sun during high summer. Or you can plant it in the beginning of the spring until high summer then again late summer until frost comes again in fall.

Using different tchniques to save space when it is limited is key. I use tomato cages over my cucumbers when I transplant them to the garden. They grow up the cage then back down it and really saves a significant amount of room for other veggies. String beans can be grown vertically on a trellis made from chicken wire or string to save room, Here is the cucumbers in tomato cages technique I was talking about. These are not mine but it gives you an idea. http://www.thebayougardener.com/site_images_08/IMG_2694-L.jpg
Got any other question let me know and I will help best I can..............Chris

[LIsa]

Thank you so much for the information, the pictures were great...we are thinking we might have to transplant our fig tree, which was just planted last spring..do you have any advice on that? It's been covered in burlap and tar paper and a bucket all winter...I'm not sure what to expect this spring, or when we would be able to transplant it without killing it.

[Chris Bocchino]

I would do that now while it is still dormant. Get the hole prepped where you want to transplant it and add a root starter to help it reestablish its self in the new spot....................Chris

[LIsa]

Really? Now? It's funny, I was wondering about that...if I should do it while it's dormant...thank you once again for your advice! I appreciate you taking the time to answer me, lol